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The social organization of Ling and the term phu-nu in the Gesar Epic1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Samten G. Karmay
Samten G. Karmay
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris
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Extract

In recent studies of the Tibetan epic, much effort has been spent on analysing the origins and types of material that make up the epic literature, but no study presents an overall view of Ling (Gling) society. In the paper I gave at the second Symposium on the Epic of King Gesar at Lhasa in 1991, I therefore discussed the theoretical basis upon which the whole of Tibetan epic literature is built. I demonstrated that the Tibetan epic reveals a basic principle as well as a ‘chronological order’ in its development. Without this theoretical basis, Tibetan epic literature appears as a tangled web of material which is moreover still growing in complexity.

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Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , June 1995 , pp. 303 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1995

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References

2 ‘The theoretical basis of the Tibetan epic, with reference to a “chronological order” of the various episodes in the Gesar epic’, BSOAS, LVI, 2, 1993, 234–46.Google Scholar

3 Karmay, S. G., ‘The origin myths of the first king of Tibet as revealed in the Can-lnga’, in Kvaerne, P. (ed.), Tibetan studies, vol. 1, Proceedings of the sixth seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies in Fagernes (Norway), 21–28 August 1992 (Oslo, 1994), 410–11.Google Scholar

4 cf. Shar-rdza bKra-shis rgyal-mtshan (1859–1935), Legs-bshad-mdzod (Karmay, S. G., The treasury of good sayings: a Tibetan history of Bon, London Oriental Series, vol. 26, London: Oxford University Press, 1972, 69–70).Google Scholar

5 On this theme, see Levine, N. E., The dynamics of polyandry (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988).Google Scholar

6 cf. lHa-gling gab-tse dgu-skor, Kan-su'u mi-rigs dpe-skrun-khang, 1982, 94Google Scholar (Stein, R. A., L'épopée tibétaine de Gesar dans la version lamaïque [hereafter Version lamaïque], Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1956, 197).Google Scholar

7 rTa-rgyugs dpyid-kyi nyi-ma (hereafter dPyid-nyi), mTsho-sngon mi-rigs dpe-skrun-khang, 1981, 10.

8 Gling ge-sar rgyal-po'i sgrung 'khrungs-skor (hereafter 'Khrungs-skor), Kansu'u mi-rigs dpe-skrun-khang, 1981, 17. This text, under the title of 'Khrungs-gling, is studied by Stein, R. A., Version lamaïque, 221Google Scholar; dPyid-nyi, 10, 46.Google Scholar

9 cf. Shan-'dan stag-seng kha-sprod (hereafter Shan-'dan), Si-khron mi-rigs dpe-skrun-khang, 1982, 15Google Scholar; Bod-rgya shan-sbyar-gyi ge-sar tshig-mdzod (hereafter Bod-rgya), Si-khron mi-rigs dpe-skrun-khang, 1989, 41.Google Scholar

10 cf. Hamayon, R., ‘The one in the middle: unwelcome third as a brother, irreplaceable mediator as a son’, in Heissig, W. (ed.), Fragen der mongolischen Heldendichtung, III (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1985), 373–409.Google Scholar

11 In 'Khrungs-skor (p. 5)Google Scholar, these three women, however, appear as wives of one man, cf. flg. 2.

12 dPyid-nyi, 6–7.Google Scholar

13 e.g. Shan-'dan, 5–7, 10, 157, 161–2, 166–7.Google Scholar

14 yab-rgyud-ni ri-nas chad-pa, ywn-rgyid mtsho-nas chad-pa (dPyid-nyi, 4).

15 cf. Karmay, S., Sagant, Ph., ‘La place du rang dans la maison sharwa’, in Blamont, D., Toffin, G., (ed.), Architecture, milieu et société en Himalaya: Etudes himalayennes (Paris: Editions du CNRS, 1987), 247–50.Google Scholar

16 'Khrungs-skor, 1981, 143–44Google Scholar (Version lamaïque, 265).Google Scholar

17 Shan-'dan, 144, 149Google Scholar; Bod-rgya, 223–4.Google Scholar

18 cf. Bod-rgya, 41.Google Scholar

19 dPyid-nyi, 9–10.Google Scholar

20 Hor-lis, f. 214Google Scholar, manuscript in the David-Neel Collection, Musée Guitnet, Paris. The translation into French of this episode with two others is in the process of publication.

21 phu-nu mi-drug ('Khrungs-skor, 144Google Scholar; Version lamaïque, 265).Google Scholar

22 gling chos-'phan nag-po tshun-chad nas/ dgra byung-na mdimg-mo mnyam-'dzin yin/ zas sder-nang gcig-tu mnyam-za yin/ skyid gdan-thog gcig-tu mnyam-'dug yin/('Khrungs-skor, 7Google Scholar; Version lamaïque, 218).Google Scholar

23 thob go-sa'i che-chung ma-yin-te/… de-phyin pha-rus gcig-pa yin/ ('Khrungs-skor, 9Google Scholar; Version lamaïque, 219).Google Scholar

24 'Khrungs-skor, 104–5Google Scholar (Version lamaïque, 250–55).Google Scholar

25 In this context the following terms are often used: khu-tshan nang-'gal, ‘conflict between uncle and cousin’; phu-nu nang-dme, ‘murder with kinsmen’. Cf. Shan-'dan, 141.Google Scholar

26 phu-nu 'brel-thag bcad-le yin/ (Shan-'dan, 137Google Scholar); Hor-lis, f. 5a.

27 phu-nu sum-cu ('Khrungs-skor, 155Google Scholar; Version lamaïque, 81).Google Scholar

28 ‘… il ne s'agit pas de liens de parenté par le sang.’ (Version lamaïque, 40, n. 2).Google Scholar

29 'Khrungs-skor, 93Google Scholar; Version lamaïque, 246.Google Scholar

30 'Khrungs-skor, 98Google Scholar; Version lamaïque, 64, 248.Google Scholar

31 Bacot, J., Thomas, F. W., Toussaint, Ch., Documents de Touen-houang relatifs à l'histoire du Tibet (Paris, 1940, 110, 146).Google Scholar This same document also attests the existence of the term phu-ma-nu which J. Bacot translates as ‘garçons ou filles’. In my view it simply means ‘kinsman’.

32 Richardson, H. E., A corpus of Early Tibetan inscriptions (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1985), 20, 24.Google Scholar

33 Sakaki, , Mahävyutpatti (Kyoto, 1916–1926).Google Scholar

34 sMan-lis, manuscript in the David-Neel Collection, Musée Guimet, f. 164, 169, 174, 181 (see n. 20); Shan-'dan, 180–81.Google Scholar